Why Discipline is So Damn Difficult (and How to Master It)

Hello.

Welcome to another episode

of Unleashing Brilliance.

Today I wanna talk

about something that

everyone struggles with.

Yes.

Even those high performing

visionary powerhouse

women out there.

I see you.

Why is discipline

so damn difficult?

Why is it that even when we

know exactly what we need to

do, we still end up scrolling,

binge watching alphabet sizing

our spice racks color coding

our bookshelf, or reaching

for just one more tip, Tam.

No judgment here.

'cause I love chocolate

biscuits and malteses.

They're practically

self-care in my land.

But let's get into it.

Why do we find discipline

so damn difficult?

I think there's a delicious

allure of distraction

that's going on.

Some will tell you that

the problem is willpower

or brain chemistry or

resistance, but I reckon the

real reason is distraction

actually feels amazing.

You know, it's

instant gratification.

It's finest, isn't it?

It whispers, you know, just

five more minutes when

your alarm goes off, it

lures you into saying,

I'll follow up tomorrow

instead of hitting on that.

Pitch, email hitting,

send on that pitch email.

Now it's sexy, it's

sparkly, it's seductive,

and guess what?

It's also a big fat liar

because here's the truth bomb.

If distraction is all

about short-term pleasure,

then discipline is all

about long-term purpose.

It's not about suffering,

it's about stacking

those little wins that

create the big dreams.

You know, we're talking

and writing a book.

lending and TEDx Talk.

Launching your empire, getting

high quality leads on repeat.

It's not exactly things

you achieve by winging

it with your phone in one

hand, and lovers blind

on in the background.

It's not the sort of thing

you can achieve by actually

not doing the boring work.

This stuff, getting

those TED Talks, writing

that book, building your

business requires work,

it requires discipline,

it requires consistency.

And that, my friends, is often

the boring part of business.

But I think it's time

to flip the script.

Let's talk strategies because

discipline doesn't have

to feel like a bootcamp

hosted by Sadistics personal

trainer that, let me tell

you, I'm retraining for a

high rocks right now, and

that's how it's feeling.

We've gotta flip the script.

So here's a couple

of strategies I want

you to think about.

The first one is to lock

down your goals and your why.

Because without clarity,

distractions actually

win every single time.

You wanna grow your

business, great.

But what does that mean?

What does it mean?

What is the motivation?

What is the reason

for doing this stuff?

My clients, especially

those in Elevate, we sit

down every single quarter

and we create a game plan.

And this is not just lofty

goals, but it's actually

the micro actions over

these next 90 days that will

actually get them there.

And by the way, we set these

90 day plans, not just from

a business and professional

perspective, but also.

Personal perspective

because we're not just

single-minded human beings.

Many of us have other

things going on.

We've got life dreams, we've

got relationship goals and

all those sorts of things.

And it's really important that

we get clear on these micro

actions that are going to

get you there because a great

idea without a plan, well,

that's just wishful thinking

with a hashtag, so work out.

What is it that you

are wanting and why?

Most importantly, why

does it actually matter?

And I want you to

think really, why?

Really, really, really why?

The second thing is you

gotta ditch the temptation.

Willpower's cute, but

it's, you know, unreliable.

It's like a bad ex. We've

actually gotta put systems

in place, not stress.

So if it's about turning

off your phone, it may

be about shutting down

your email, it may be

about hiding the remote.

Whatever it is, you've got to

get serious about removing.

Those distractions.

One of the things that I've

shared this before that we

do in my Elevate community is

we do a weekly hour of power.

This is where we meet

online, the cameras are on,

but microphones are off.

Every single person is muted,

and we spend that hour in

business development mode,

like our goals depend on it

because they actually do.

And let me tell you, knowing

someone's watching you

on Zoom, well magically

it makes you productive.

Funny that right?

So remove the distraction.

Number three making sure

that you're celebrating

those small wins.

I used to think that

discipline meant suffering,

you know, like nose to

the grindstone, gray

tracksuit, eye twitching

kind of suffering.

And you know,

honestly, I think it's.

There's a lot of that

childhood conditioning

about you work hard, you

keep working hard, and

someone will notice you

and remember my North of

England dad saying, but it

doesn't have to be like that.

Now what I do is I

celebrate the glimmer

moments every single month.

I look at what I've actually

achieved in that month,

what are those small steps

that I've achieved, and

I give myself the reward.

It might be a massage,

it might be a glass of

bubbly at the beach.

It might even be

a guilt Free nap.

It doesn't matter

because success isn't

just about the doing.

It's about the being,

and you deserve to feel

good along the way.

Next strategy number

four is about being

kinder to yourself.

I used to be really bad

at this, you know, like

world champion at beating

myself up, kind of bad.

But now I pause, I

reflect, I laugh.

Sometimes I swear loudly

and start again, but

I never stay stuck.

I tell my clients

the same thing.

If you've fallen off

track, don't spiral.

It's just about acknowledging

what happened, what got

in the way, what stopped

you, and then taking

ownership and pressing

reset because there is never

failure, only feedback,

or sometimes a slight.

Back.

And one of the final

things I do is I track

my progress like a hoard.

I am only retentive about

tracking absolutely anything.

This is like my

superpower to my business.

It's one of my

biggest secrets.

I track everything.

I track daily sales

and cash flow.

I track word camp when

I'm writing a book.

I track social media reach,

I track my email list.

These are my habits because

I know that if I don't

track it, it doesn't happen.

And inside my Elevate and

Inner Circle community,

every single one of

us has a dashboard.

Actual dashboards, not

just metaphorical ones.

Those dashboards are built to

measure the very thing that my

clients are measuring at that

moment in time to ensure that

they're making a step forward.

We look at the North

Star metrics, which could

be sales and profit.

We look at the attention

metrics, those metrics that we

need to be following to ensure

that the right amount of

eyeballs are seeing our stuff.

we track our

attraction metrics.

How many people are

coming into our world?

What is our lead

gen looking like?

and then we Track the

activation, metrics, what's

actually being converted

because every single one of

those numbers shows us both

the impact of our activity.

And it gives us clues.

It shows us the breadcrumbs of

where the opportunity is, of,

where we need to take action.

What you focus on grows.

What you neglect well,

that gathers dust.

It fuels self-doubt.

It adds the cobwebs

into your business.

So the big question is,

are you going to let

distractions keep you in the

loop of, I'll do it later.

Are I gonna commit to

a kind of discipline

that builds freedom?

It builds flow.

It builds long-term

brilliance.

I know which camp I'm in

and I know which camp you

belong to too, and it's not

the one with empty promises

and half eaten biscuits.

So what's one thing you're

gonna take away from today?

Maybe it's shutting down your

inbox during deep work time.

Maybe it's scheduling

your own hour of power.

Maybe it's finally getting

clear on your goals

and why they matter.

Whatever it is.

Please make a commitment and

make that commitment today.

And once again, if you've

loved this episode or you've

got someone that you think

needs to listen to this

episode, please share it with

one of your besties, with one

of your business buddies, with

one of the incredible other

people in your network who has

got big dreams, but just keeps

getting pulled off course.

And of course, tag Me,

act Janine, wherever

you're sharing it.

And tell me what

are you focusing on?

Discipline isn't punishment,

discipline is a declaration of

what matters, of who you are

and of who you are becoming.

Now, off you go.

Go and unleash some more

brilliance this week and I'll

catch up with you next week.